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Diffstat (limited to 'xsane.ROOT')
-rw-r--r-- | xsane.ROOT | 49 |
1 files changed, 49 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/xsane.ROOT b/xsane.ROOT new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0ff5825 --- /dev/null +++ b/xsane.ROOT @@ -0,0 +1,49 @@ +If you run xsane as root xsane comes up with a warning message at startup. +Some people asked me to remove this warning, e.g: + +Q: "... But there is something I very disagree with: This horrible message when + I launch XSane, saying me that I mustn't run XSane as root. + If I run as root it's MY problem! Running as root has inconvenience, but + has also lots of advantages. Like I am the only user of my conputer I + run as root" + +A: 1) It does not matter if you are the only user on your system. There still + is a big security problem also in this case. When you run XSane as root + then XSane has pemission to remove or change any file on your system. + XSane is a really complex program and for sure there are still bugs + that may cause an unexpected behaviour like removing or writing into + files. Imagine what happens when XSane removes your home directory or + any important system files. Another issue is that you can accidently + remove or change all files on the system using XSane. + + 2) early versions of XSane did not print this message and a lot of people + did run XSane as root. This caused a lot of problems and I got a lot of + problem reports and please-help-me mails. This took a lot of my time. + So it also is my problem when several people run XSane as root. + + + Please think about your decision to do all you work as root. This really + is dangerous. I do not know any professional system adminstrator who works + all the time as root. All system administrators work as a normal user + and if there is something that has to be done as root, then the admin + gets root permission only for this command. + + Please beleve me that these people do know a lot of their machines and that + is the reason why they know it is dangerous to work all the time as root. + + Doing a "rm -f *" in the wrong directory can kill your complete system when + you run as root. As normal user nothing will happen with a bit luck. + + The decision if you work as root all the time has nothing to do if you are + the only user on the system. + + +Q: "But I am using a parallel port scanner and need to be root to access the scanner" + +A: It is not necessary that the frontend (xsane) runs as root. The backend (driver) that + does access your scanner may need root access. If possible you sould compile your + backend with a parallel port library that allows acces as non privileged user. + If your backend does not support such a library then you can set up network scanning + on your system. Configure saned to run as root. To connect to the scanner connect + via the network protocol to localhost, e.g.: xsane net:localhost:epson + |